Well, we’re back to photographing major sporting events! Here are some of my favorite photos from the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, 2021.
When I posted these on Instagram, I had people ask if I was shooting the race for fun. No! While it IS fun to photograph, I was hired to be there. My client is the race organizer. They use my photos for their website, social media, promotional materials, sponsor decks, signage, ads and more!
What Do I Look For?
While I’m covering an event like this, I look for a good variety of images to tell a story. I want photos that are wide (sense of place), medium (action & reaction) and detail (close-ups that add information).
I’m looking for landmarks that give a sense of place. When you look at these photos, it should be obvious what city this is in (if you’re at all familiar with American cities).
I look for faces that express emotion and the feeling of participating in the event. And detail shots like the runners in the crosswalk below, give viewers a closer look at the action. That photo conveys action/motion, a sense of place (a large, downtown crosswalk), and a detail of colorful shoes (something I saw a lot of).
Interesting Angles
I also look for angles that show an event from a different perspective. The photo below is my favorite unique angle from this shoot. I held the camera on the ground and pointed up. People move by so quickly that I can’t plan the exact photo. My intention was to have the legs and shoes of a runner in the foreground of the photo, exactly as they are here. I looked for a group of runners so that there would be runners at varying distances form the camera, but the second runner being framed by the first runner was a happy accident.
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